High Empire of Vexia
The High Empire of Vexia (Μεγάλη βεςιαν αυτοκρατορία, Megáli vechian aftokratoría) is a nation in the world of Myrr. It is the most powerful empire in the history of the known world and boasts both a thriving economy and a strong, well-trained army with talented commanders. It has expanded mostly through the conquest of foreign countries, which were then turned into provinces of the Empire. The Empire's inhabitants believe that "real" Vexians are only those born in the heart of the Empire, and not those born in the conquered provinces. The provinces are ruled by either stewards or kings (in cases in which a king willingly surrenders, he retains his throne but is subject to the Emperor or just a vassal). The empire has expanded throughout the years, conquering new lands and going as far to the north as the Ulm River during the reign of Emperor Jakar VII Vixis. The major religion in Vexia is the cult of the Four Graces. Story In the aftermath of the Great War of Old two thousand years ago, Vexia was one of four countries created from the ashes of Noxia. The Republic of Noxia was a civilization that dominated Myrr for centuries until it was overthrown by the Vexian's ambitions. Aspiring to recreate the domination of the ancient civilization of Noxia, the Vixis family initiated its policy of expansion, declared themselves as emperors of Vexia, and begin declaring war on neighboring countries to annex them. Several decades ago Jackal Vixis VI was born as heir to a military family. The empire experienced a military coup 13 years later. Little is known about the coup other than Jackal Vixis VI's father being heavily involved. The Imperial Palace was constructed 21 years afterward, as the Emperor was facing increasing pressure to expand its armaments. Jackal Vixis VI became Emperor 18 years later, and world peace was agreed upon although the Western regions refused to sell coal to the invading Empire with armed resistance. Two years later, the Empire started its first military campaign, conquering the south continent. During this time Emperor Jackal Vixis VII discovered a new techonlogy that was captured from the enemy. The technology was developed by Johannes var Uxwell, the Empire's chief engineer, after Jackal Vixis VI tested with a band of soldiers the new technology, Uxwell developed a technique for creating magic from their modified genetic code. He tested this technology on Jackal Vixis VII, but the process was still in development and was rudimentary—it shattered Jackal Vixis VII's mind and left him a psychopath. Six years afterwards the military's command structure was restructured and the initial results of the research facility were published by the Empire. Four years after the initial results, the Empire commenced its second military campaign, conquering the Western continent due largely to the deployment of the experimental Armors, the main new weapon in use. Seven years on the Empire got into skirmishes with Doma, with the former pursuing a third military campaign a year later. With the new techonlogy's unequaled power, the Empire began to conquer the entire world. The other nations on the southern continent where Alba is located—Tzen, Albrook and Maranda— were conquered one by one, and the Empire begins pushing into the north. In the year I.E. 3359, Vexia conquered the land of the North. Circa I.E. 3606 the conflict between Vexia and the Lucian-Accordian Allied Forces continued, but the Lucian army was being overwhelmed by the weapons of the Empire. The Lucian king at the time erected the Wall around the whole of the region that includes the Crown City of Metonimia, and took up a siege position. By the year I.E. 3725, the entire world, bar the continent and country of Lucis, is under imperial rule, although some realms ar allowed relative autonomy. Emperor Jackal Vixis VII, the long time ruler, once benevolent and loved by the masses, has begun the mass production of new mechanical soldiers for the forthcoming all-out war with Lucis. The new infantry was developed with knowledge on the new technology provided by Uxwell studies, who was made the chancellor of Vexia sometime after he arrived the Empire in 1722. The battle of Lucis and Vexia lasted between 2/24-4/1. Anticipating defeat by Vexia's new army, King Petrus of Lucis shrinks the magic barrier surrounding the kingdom to Metonimia's outer wall, strengthening it, but Vexia breaches into the outlands of Lucis where they begin to build military bases. In the year I.E. 3756, the Emperor launches an attack on the capital of Lucis, Metonimia. The attack happens during a peace-treaty signing party which was supposed to settle the dispute, and have all of the Lucian outlands annexed to the Empire in exchange for peace. The treaty-signing was a cover for the true imperial objective: the invasion of Metonimia and the conquest of Lucis. The Empired finally conquered the whole world. Geography The Empire's landscapes vary significantly across its vast width. In the east, along the shores of the Üxell Sea and the Tolstoi Sea, there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains, while on the edges of the Inner plateau in the north, broad grasslands predominate. The southern region is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges, while the central-east hosts the deltas of The Empire's two major rivers, the Mozart River and the Beethoven River. Other major rivers include the Chopin, Wagner, Debussy and Brahms. To the west sit major mountain ranges, most notably the Poe. High plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes of the north, such as the Twain and the Whitman Desert. The world's highest point, Mount Vivaldi (8,848m). The country's lowest point, and the world's third-lowest, is the dried lake bed of Bach Lake (−154m) in the Rossini Depression. The Empire's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons, which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist. The climate in the empire differs from region to region because of the country's highly complex topography. National Structure The Emperor/Imperator (Vexian dialect: Αυτοκράτορας) or Empress is the absolutistic leader and ruler of the Vexian Empire. Although sharing his realm with a number of barons, counts, dukes, princes, senators and other aristocrats, his rule is totalitarian and disloyalty is punished with death. The country was divided into ten provinces and the central government, composed by the Emperor and his council, appointed administrative governors, stadtholder who held only administrative and police powers, but also economic power within a province. The provinces were further divided into districts which were administered by locally appointed officials. These local officials were primarily responsible for keeping the peace, collecting taxes, recruiting labor for the corvée, and for keeping registers of population and land allotment. Within the districts' further subdivisions, local organization varied greatly, but often resembled the arrangement of a township of fifty or so homes led by a headman. Religion The Four Graces is the largest religious institution in the Empire. More than 70% of the population of the Empire are followers, and everyone in the realm is under its influence in one way or the other. It has temples everywhere, and is related to every lord of every house. It has its own army of monk warriors whose abilities rival the troops of other nations. The Emperor is also a religious head of state since he is, among others, High Priest of the Four Graces. The title is inherited. Society There are Three Major pillars supporting Imperial Feudal society; the Nobility, the Clergy, and the Peasantry in order of authority. The peasantry grow the food, do all the work and support civil infrastructure. The Nobility hold all authoritative power and privilege, they are duty bound to face all dangers threatening the kingdom both local or foreign, and uphold all qualities of Honour and Chivalry, at least publicly. The entire system is then held together by the Clerical class, whose duty's are to maintain the Empire's spiritual health enforce the faith and all "moral" authority within the kingdom. Primarily they are used to keep the peasantry in check, suppressing un-contentment and rebellion. The Clerical class are also the record keepers and administration of Vexia, advising the Emperor and other nobles at all levels. All learning and writing is done through them or is under their influence. The hunting down of witches and mutants are their darkest and most important duty. The Nobility The lands of Vexia are a feudal, traditional society where peasants and commoners serve Noble Knights in return for protection, while the knights are bound militarily to serve their lords in return for certain rights privileges and landed titles. At the top of this feudal hierarchy, is the Emperor. Beneath the Emperor are the Dukes. Beneath them are lesser ranks of nobility such as Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, Lords and Knights all in descending order, and the Barons having a special place within the courtly pecking order. Each of the senior nobles are also master over a number of Knights, whom are the lowest noble rank of society. Each Knight, including the higher nobles has a duty to raise his own full time force of Men-at-Arms, chosen from the most physically able peasants within his domain. In return for serving his knightly lord, each peasant is given a small tract of land to farm for his family and can be expected to be called upon in times of war, to form a peasant militia of archers and pikes, commanded by the highest ranking Nobleman present. There is, however, one family which does not follow this hierarchical order: the Mávrimov family. The members of this family are part of the most influenced nobles in the Empire. They rule over the Kingdom of Žeřičkov (Žeřičkov Království/Žeřičkovo Království, in the local language), which is an autonomous kingdom inside the Empire. The Kingdom is home to two of the largest cities in the Empire, Žeřičkov and Javrovo, a huge fortified, luxurious city and a big harbour respectively. The Peasantry The Empire is notorious for its oppression of both the commoners and peasants, which most agree are more strict and harsh then those of any other Old World nations. This dark side of Vexian culture is placed unashamedly out in the open where all nobles and nobility are set high above the peasantry in all ways. Noblemen have all the say in most matters, and peasants often live in far worst conditions than those in the conquered provinces of the Empire like Tilea, Estalia and perhaps even brutal Haslwin in some respects. The peasants have very few if any rights at all, and are kept illiterate and uneducated by law. They are considered sub-human and mere property to their feudal lord and must surrender 9/10th's of their crops each harvest. As a result most remain extremely poor throughout their entire lives. They may not leave their home estate unless allowed; as a result a certain degree of inbreeding is quite common. Many peasants are afflicted by clubfeet, extra fingers, lazy eyes, or similar minor defects and mutations. Vexian justice is extremely harsh and entirely ruled by superstition, any peasant who is caught stealing or poaching is usually hanged. Far harsher punishment is dealt unto any peasant whom attacks a noble. He and his entire family will be tortured and slowly dismembered, being drawn and quartered is the preferred method, while all his closest friends and acquaintances will be crippled. Such is the price of rebellion. A small but growing middle class of commoners also referred to as Freemen, make up both the professional trades and merchant class within Vexian society. Although literate for the most part they can be either self taught, or instructed by monks as there are no public schools within Vexia. All education is thus done by private arrangement and stems from the many Monasteries for a steep price. Artisans, craftsmen and skilled semi-professionals live almost exclusively within the Empire's cities and numerous larger towns, situated mostly along the Empire coasts and rivers. They remain socially segregated from the bonded peasants and give fealty unto a Lord or landed Knight but remain free to move, with permission from local authorities if their skills are not considered too important to their current master and or community. Intellectuals such as scholars, doctors and other similar profession are well respected for their duties but remain of a lower class than the Nobles, usually having about the same rights as a well skilled commoner with monies. The ownership of gold jewelry and the hoarding of gold is forbidden to all common classes, forcing merchants to deal almost exclusively in copper and silver. Gold is officially used only amongst the nobility, usually as tax and tithing unto the royal treasury. Any gold received in trade must be declared and handed over to a merchant's noble master, this being done each tithing day, and at an exchange rate that is considered criminal in nearly all other counties. The Law In general, the law was broadly procedural (i.e. concerned with the administration of justice) rather than substantive (i.e. concerned with rights, obligations, and offences). Laws are typically written in the form "if someone does A, then B is to result", and are more concerned with the legal actions which should be undertaken by the prosecutor, rather than strictly defining which acts are prosecutable. Often, this would have resulted in juries having to decide whether the offence said to have been committed was in fact a violation of the law in question. Courts and judicial system Vexian courts were cheap and run by laypeople. Court officials were paid little, if anything, and most trials were completed in the same day, private cases even more quickly. There were no "professional" court officials, no lawyers, and no official judges. A normal case consisted of two litigants, one arguing that an unlawful act had been committed, and the other arguing either that it had not been unlawful, or that it had not happened. The jury would decide both whether the accused was guilty, and, in the case that they were, what the punishment should be. In Vexian courts, the jury tended to be made up of the mass of the common people, whereas litigants came mostly from the elites of society. In the Vexian legal system, the courts have been seen as a system for settling disputes and resolving arguments, rather than enforcing "a coherent system of rules, rights and obligations". One court, the Prytaneion, was responsible for trying unknown people, animals, and inanimate objects for homicide, probably in order to ensure that Vexia was free of blood-guilt for the crime. Along with the official enforcement of the law in the courts, in Vexia and other cities, justice and social cohesion were collectively enforced by society at large. Informal collective justice was often targeted at elite offenders. Public and private cases In Vexia, there were two types of lawsuit. Public prosecutions, or graphai, were heard by juries of 501 or more, increasing in increments of 500 jurors, while private suits, or dikai, were heard by 201 or 401 jurors, depending on the amount of money at stake. Juries were made up of men selected from a panel of 6,000 volunteers, who were selected annually and were required to be full citizens, aged over 30. Juries were paid a small fee from the time of Jackal III Vixis, which may have led to disproportionate numbers of poor and elderly citizens working on juries. Imperial Army Since its existence, the Empire has always been a nation born and bred for war, fighting off foes uncountable with the will, the steel, and the faith of their patriotic citizenry. With an unending chain of constant warfare, the armies of the Empire are brimmed with grizzled Veterans of many campaigns, each one lead by an even greater man of strength, valor and heroic leaderships. As their nation progress throughout the centuries, innovations and inventions were re-engineered for the use of warfare, with the armies of the Empire now stockpiled with large quantities of devastating black-powder weaponry and the technological marvels of the century. With the need for professional soldiers always on the rise, each Imperial soldier is regularly trained, equipped, and maintained at the expense of the Imperial government. Enlistment in the state troops means enlistment in a full-time profession, where those with skill at arms enlist as basic front-line soldier. Armies stationed within the richer south are equipped with the finest weaponry and armor available to them by their local government, with standard equipment being comparably superior than those in other armies. While the Army is officially leaded by the Emperor, a high-ranking officer known as a Field Marshal leads the men in the field. During greater conquests and invasions (lthat of the North) armies are normally divided into regiments. Each regiment has a wide variety of weapons for certain types of engagements, with spears, halberds, and swords being the most common and the most flexible in battle situations. Imperial regiments used as long-range support are often equipped with handguns, crossbows, and longbows, among others. When not in war, Imperial soldiers are required to drill and train on a regular basis in order to build their stamina and deepen their martial abilities when the time for combat soon reappears. Supervised by drill-sergeants, these men are harshly instruct in the importance of formation tactics and the need to fight as a cohesive unit capable of lending support to one another in the chaos of the battlefield. Those soldiers not stationed within a campaigning army usually serves as guards, acting as the local city watch, fire watch, and enforcers of the law, patrolling the streets or roads of the provinces for anything as small as minor criminal activities to as large as Beastmen raids. The army count during the 4th Northern War was ca. 320,000, as 300,000 attacked the Northern Kingdoms, while the remaining 20,000 — 50,000 remained in the Empire to defend core provinces like Etolia, Gemmera or Vicovaro.